SEOUL – Samsung Electronics’ second-quarter net profit fell 5% year-over-year, says its quarterly report. And profits were down 11% from the first quarter, driven in part by DRAM price decline.
Media reports suggest U.S. investor Carl Icahn is planning a hostile takeover of Samsung. An article by Chosun Ilbo at the largest Korean newspaper points to an anonymous Samsung executive as the source.
However, Carl Icahn has denied reports that he plans to make a hostile bid for Samsung, Dow Jones reports. Dow quotes Icahn as saying, “Not only do we not have a position in Samsung, I don't even know how to spell the company's name. It appears that someone may be spreading erroneous rumors about our position in Samsung.”
German reports say Samsung investor relations top manager Woosik Chu has no knowledge of such a plan; Chu explained the company has countermeasures in place to fend off a takeover attempt. No one was available for comment from Samsung's German subsidiary.
The world's largest computer memory chip manufacturer earned $1.55 billion for the second quarter, and sales rose 3.7% during the quarter year-over-year, the company reports.
Memory sales declined 7% year-over-year. LCD business showed a healthy growth of 17% in comparison to the first quarter and the second quarter in 2006. The company sold LCD screens at a value of about $3.64 billion.
Business with telecommunications equipment declined 5% year-over-year to $4.9 billion. Appliances soared 23% to $1.03 billion from the same period last year.